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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — in cards
  4. race — a contest
  5. charge — in control
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wax — to grow
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. charge — a price
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. race — the arms race
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. spring — the season
  17. hand — help
  18. race — humankind
  19. snap — to click
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. spring — of water
  23. sharp — clever
  24. last — to go on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com